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A jam submission

An Academy Catastrophe: A Magical Girl AdventureView game page

A Magical Girl platforming adventure! June Mejos is summoned by the student council, and things get weird.
Submitted by ShibeyFaceGames (@ShibeyG) — 1 day, 1 hour before the deadline
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An Academy Catastrophe: A Magical Girl Adventure's itch.io page

Results

CriteriaRankScore*Raw Score
Audio#13.9473.947
Overall#24.0614.061
Gameplay Polish#24.0004.000
Aesthetics#24.4214.421
Engagement/Fun#24.1584.158
Originality/Creativity#34.0004.000
Magical Girl Concept#63.8423.842

Ranked from 19 ratings. Score is adjusted from raw score by the median number of ratings per game in the jam.

How does your game fit the Magical Girl Genre?
My game features Magical Girl June Mejos as the protagonist, who fights and moves with magic powers.

Which theme(s) do you pick?
I used "Kitten"

How does your game fit those theme(s)?
The main antagonist throughout the game is a cat/cat girl familiar.

Were the assets for your game made during the jam? Elaborate as you see fit.
Nearly all art was made during the jam, with a few recycled and updated items. The soundtrack is all new, and created by Facemelting Solos during the jam period. All SFX were recycled from previous games and were not created during the jam period, but are also by Facemelting Solos.

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Comments

Submitted(+1)

Shibey at it again. Another great game.

I found the difficulty ok, though having bullets that can pass through walls feel a bit unfair. Didn't go for the evidences though, but they add a good amount of replayability.

As always, suberb.

Developer

Thanks so much for playing! I'll keep your feedback about the bullets in mind. Maybe changing that would help players who've been having a hard time.

Host (1 edit) (+1)

As usual very high quality product for a month long game jam: Very polished gameplay, strong arts, fantastic music as usual. Like usual though the skill requirement is... pretty high... to say the least. Really struggled with the final boss; then finally managed to get the bad ending, then after a few more tries got the good ending.

Difficulty aside I think I ragequitted after I found out how hard it is to get all the evidences because they are sooo easily missable. And remembering how hard the game overall is I decided it was a nope for me.

Developer(+1)

Thanks so much for playing! Glad you were able to get the good ending, even if it was a struggle! This is another game where I can't quite put my finger on what to do next. About half the feedback is "too easy" and half is "too hard"...

As for the evidence, I see you already found it in another post, but it's basically just an extra challenge for crazy players like me who enjoy weird jumping puzzles.(You have to use all the different moves... slide jumps, upper cuts, etc) Since you found one piece, you've seen the slightly altered ending.

I'd like to go back and add a better checkpoint system. Unfortunately, I was just out of time for this jam.

Submitted (1 edit) (+1)

I'm usually a big fan of the Basin Falls Lake games, but I'll admit, when I saw it was an action platformer I braced myself a little. 

The style is different this time, and I'm not sure if I prefer it, but it's very clean, polished, and well done. As usual, the FacemeltingSolos soundtrack is on point.

I found it more playable than Camilla Vs but it was still way too challenging for me. I made it to the (first?) boss, which is farther along than I thought I would get, but called it quits after getting murdered by the onslaught of shooter things and nightmares. I could just barely defeat the catgirl herself- I found that fight challenging, but doable. The next part was just way too much happening at once for me.

There are a lot of different movement and attack mechanics and I could never pull off any of them consistently. I more or less spammed direction keys and the attack button and hoped for the best. They seemed well implemented, and I think veteran platformer players are going to find this game an absolute treat, but it's too much for me to handle.

The only change I would maybe make is to make healing items a little stronger, because it's easy to get into a corner where you're almost out of health and can never recover enough to get to a safe state. I had trouble collecting some of the ones that were thrown upward, but that might have just been me.

EDIT: Echoing back to my feedback on Camilla Vs, it's definitely different this time. Camilla Vs I found really frustrating because it felt unfair. This one doesn't feel unfair or unbalanced the same way.

Developer

Thanks for playing! I tried to avoid the "Camilla Vs" style frustration platforming for this one, and seems like it worked more or less.

This is reminding me once again that difficulty levels are something I should really take the time to implement.  I had considered it for this one, but time was tight and that feature got cut... maybe in an update.

I am curious if you find the art style a major turn-off, or just not your favorite of the series. I'm more or less trying to find the right balance of speed and quality. Part of the reason my Camilla Vs update is taking a million years is that art and sprites take a long time, especially animating... it compounds and demotivates me, and becomes a vicious cycle.  The smaller sprites in this new game help me work faster, but I'm still on the fence as to whether it's worth the trade off. 

I appreciate your feedback, thanks again!

Submitted(+1)

To be honest, I'm not sure how much difficulty levels would help. It would definitely be useful in that I could finish the game but I'd still feel like I'm basically brute-forcing my way through it. It certainly wouldn't hurt, though.

I didn't like the art style as much as the other games, but I didn't find it a major turn-off either.

Submitted(+1)

Hey! First of all, the game was really fun and I enjoyed playing it.


Highlights:

* Precious art

* Fun dialogues

* Great movement set

* Good level design (fun to play)

* The game teaches you dynamically the controls and special movements during the gameplay


Thing that could be improved:

* Gamepad support. It's not a type of game to be played on keyboard. It's kinda uncomfortable and makes the gameplay more difficult. The game would be more enjoyable if it could be played with gamepad.

* Final boss mechanics: I beat final Felicity's form just spamming uppercut without even moving. On the contrary, the fight against the seal after beating Felicity for the first time was much more challenging.

* In the part where they teach you to combine slice + jump, I always ended up being hurt by the spikes. The jump length was maybe too long. Probably the idea was to combine it with the uppercut jump, but it's not obvious at first. 


Congratulations! I admire your dedication to create a whole series of the same universe. You're a good example for other devs/artists. We're waiting for your collection and keep creating  ♥

Developer

Thanks so much for playing, and your feedback! You're not the first to ask for gamepad support. I'm planning on adding that in a future update. (I actually prefer keyboard controls, but I can't only cater to myself,, haha)

With the slide jump, the first few spike pits should be able to be safely crossed. The final one (after the seal) indeed requires combining it with the uppercut, and leads to an optional (and skip-able) collectable. Those were intended as bonus items for players who enjoy tougher movement puzzles. In hindsight, that one in particular may seem like it's part of the "main path"... I'll have to consider how to handle that better in the future.

As for the end boss, spamming the uppercut to smash her bell is one way to beat her. HOWEVER.... (mild spoilers for any new player reading this?) .... breaking the bell will lead to the bad ending. There is a more challenging way to defeat her that will give you the good ending. (If you're interested in seeing it, you can use the "Continue" button on the title screen to pick up from the final boss stage, so long as you haven't started a new game)

Thanks again for playing, for taking the time to comment! I really appreciate it. :)

Submitted(+1)

What can I say, this game plays, looks and sounds amazing! Tight.

Developer

Thanks so much! <3

Submitted (2 edits) (+2)

I enjoyed this game! I appreciate how fast and fluid the controls and combat are. It makes getting to where I last left off after dying quick and painless. Though I would note that first section could use one are two check points. It's a pretty big section and could easily be broken up into 3 sections. That said, after breaking the 4 seals to get to the cat, the checkpoints became consistent, so I appreciate that. I like the story and how there are alternate ways to beating the final boss. Makes me wish some of the normal enemies has multiple ways to defeat them too. It also would be nice if there is more then one way to attack other then the basic combo. Making the slide a full attack instead of attacking at the end of the slide would help a lot for example. Still, this move set is more then satisfactory for a game of this scale.

I like what's here and makes me think you can totally make a full platformer game. I would love to play that. Though after a quick glance at your game library, it looks like you already built a universe of games with these characters.

So with that said, I would like to make a suggestion. I noticed your games so far has been browser exclusive. I would like a option to download a offline version of your game to play whenever I don't have wifi at a given moment. To add to that, perhaps you can further justify a offline version by making a collection of all your shared universe games up to this point and perhaps post if on multiple sites including itch.io and gamejolt. Assuming that's something that you want to go far. I'd be more then satisfied with some offline version and maybe a collection with some touch ups here and there. Just some food for thought.

Back to this game, there are some things I want to note. I find that there is little insensitive to fight the enemies besides from maybe getting some health. And even then, I find myself not getting enough health pickups to make up the damage I get from fighting enemies. Another way of regaining health quick, like maybe some large health capsules throughout the level would go a long way to give me more insensitive to fight the enemies. When I died towards the end of that first large section, I ended up rushing through the level and getting away with ignoring the enemies. Not gonna lie, if it wasn't for there not being much benefit to fighting the enemies, I would totally hang back and fight the enmies because the combat is legit fun! I I also want to note that the bosses, aside from that one big and powerful enemy that crawls on the ground and the final boss, can easily be brute forced. When fighting felicity for example, I ended up standing in one place for a bit and wailing on her with no consequences. I was expecting some kind of obstacle to avoid brute forcing, such as getting pushed back or staggered for example. I kinda wish there was a hard mode or something similar  to allow me to put more thought into my tactics. Overall, I love the controls and combat and I wish there was more chances for me to utilize it's potential! I could totally see these platforming controls and combat being great for speedruning and more combat focused platforming like something akin to a matroidvania, a megaman zero type of game or a river city girls type of game!

And that's it so far. I haven't broken the final boss's bell or got all the evidence yet, so maybe I'll leave a follow up comment if I go back and do that. I also plan on checking out your older games. Anyways, good job, keep following your passion and keep improving!

Developer

Thanks so much for playing, and especially for all your feedback! There's a lot of helpful stuff in there that'll help me improve future games, and possibly even this one if I end up doing significant updates. (I have a few little things planned) I have a queue of projects in my pipeline, but making a longer game is one of them. It might end up being based on this one, we'll see! Each of my games so far has been dabbling in different styles  of gameplay, graphics, etc... and seeing both what I like to work on, and what's actually feasible with my limited time.

As for downloads, a few of my older games do have downloadable versions posted! I've been running into some issues with Norton flagging them with weird stuff though, so I've been hesitant to continue posting new ones. It's probably a Norton issue, but it could be something with NW.JS too... I'm going to keep working on that though, and hopefully get back to posting standalone versions eventually. Some discord members also suggested doing a collection, and it's something I'd love to do.

If you didn't break the bell, it's possible that you are the first to achieve that ending! Ever other comment I've seen has mentioned getting the bell ending, so congrats on getting the "True" ending. As for the evidence, having 0 will alter the ending slightly, but 1-7 will all have the same effect. Each piece does have a bit of unique dialogue, but getting all 7 is mainly a personal achievement. If I had more time on the jam, maybe I would have done more with it... but I've also had the pitfall of TOO many endings in a previous game, leading to player frustration. (See my MGGJ4 entry, Camilla Pierce vs The Golden Eyed Girls)

Anyway, thanks again for playing, and the great feedback! I'll definitely be reviewing your comments again as I continue working to improve!

Submitted(+2)

Gameplay = Great as always

Art = Great as always

Music / sound = Great as always

Story =  Give or take Good as always (I think I've already said my 2 cents for several jams but I always want more of a story, instead of the very similar loop you tell)

Highlight:  jump riding big balls while beating the heck out of them

Low Point: that one really long jump to get the secret (died several times to get it and had to repeat the whole dang level.

Overall fun time, got a bad ending, but not sure I'm excited to go back and try to find all the evidence,

Developer

Thanks so much for playing, I'm glad you enjoyed it!

Assuming you haven't started a new game, you can hit the "continue" button on the main screen to pick up from final boss level. The core good ending is achieved entirely in how you defeat Felicity's final form... finding evidence only slightly alters the ending.

My thinking with the evidence was that I personally enjoy  jumping puzzles, but other players can find them frustrating. I decided I'd include them as non-essential bonuses. Getting even one piece of evidence is enough to (slightly)alter the ending, the rest is just personal achievement.

Host

...okay I'm glad that just one was enough... so probably I have seen the altered ending. Those evidences are evil lol

It's one thing if there are more checkpoints and they are not missable; but I think very few people are gonna be willing to get all of 'em considering how easily missable they are.

Submitted(+2)

This game is really spectacular. Genuinely would pay a few bucks for it. The art is cute and well made, the sound effects are fun, and I found the platforming fun.

My only wish is a settings menu so I can turn down the volume a bit.

Developer

Thanks so much for playing, I'm glad you enjoyed it! Hoping to maybe make a longer game out of this eventually, but then again I have a pile of other projects on the queue too.

Volume control is one of those things that wouldn't be too hard to add, but I never get around to. I'm planning an update to add controller support, I'll try and get that in too!

Developer

A note for anyone coming to play: This is currently best played in-browser, not in the itch client. For some reason, the itch client will not play the music.

Submitted(+1)

The Pixel art is super cute and the sound in the game is great! I like the ambience and overall atmosphere to the game.


The keyboard controls weren't very intuitive to me, but I couldn't see if there was a controller option for the game? The game feels like it would really pop for me if I could play it on a controller.


Even with that, the game was still enjoyable and I look forward to seeing more of it!

Submitted(+2)

The Pixel art is super cute and the sound in the game is great! I like the ambience and overall atmosphere to the game.


The keyboard controls weren't very intuitive to me, but I couldn't see if there was a controller option for the game? The game feels like it would really pop for me if I could play it on a controller.


Even with that, the game was still enjoyable and I look forward to seeing more of it!

Developer

Thanks so much for playing! I'm glad you enjoyed it.

I've had controller support in the past, I'll try and get that in for a future update! I was pretty busy outside of gamedev this time around, and that's one thing that hit the chopping block I'm afraid.

Submitted(+2)

For some reason I always start the rating by playing Shibey's game. It might not look like that from my post history but I was just being lazy and rating with no comments. Anyway this game was really fun and longer than I was expecting. I got the bad ending but I will hopefully replay after I have checked out some other jam games. If I have to give some feedback, I feel like the 2nd boss fight is actually easier than the first one. But apart from that the music and art were great and the game is very polished as usual.

Developer

Thanks so much for playing! I went straight for your game this jam too, hehe.

I hope you come back for the good ending! If you want to get all the hidden collectables, you'll need to start from the beginning. If you just want the core good-ending, you can continue from the last auto-save. I'll be interested to hear if you still feel the same about the two boss fights after achieving the good end.

Submitted(+2)

Nice audio and visual design!

The standard jump arc and the slide feel satisfying, but we felt fairly out of control a lot of the time. The attack slide was very fast and platforming became a bit finicky later on with the jump just barely reaching the bottom of wall-jump paths.

We enjoyed all of the nice visual effects for the various actions the player could take, the attack slide and the upper cut were both very juicy!

We would have like to see another iteration on the movement mechanics and a slighty more forgiving level design. It would probably be nice to also be a bit more generous with the player's attack hit boxes.

The enemy design was nice, we especially liked the big looming gorilla-like shadow - it's attack telegraphing made it the nicest to interact with!

Also we're a sucker for a nice boss fight, so thanks for that!

Overall very good job, you've put together a neat game!

Developer

Thanks so much for playing, and especially for all the feedback! I'd like to refine the movement and controls in a future iteration, and this will all be helpful to reference when I get some free time again! :)

Submitted(+1)

You even got extra dialogue for leaping around the halls like a fool, nice.

Developer(+1)

Someone found it, excellent!

Thanks for playing :)

Submitted(+2)

Just simply finished the game is not difficult because of big amount of healing orbs spawning. But getting the good ending, some evidence item is at a tricky spot that if player missed it, he needs to restart the level. I have finished the game once but I still havn't fully mastered the control so I feel challenged on collecting evidence items. Will try again later.

The music is chill and the pixel art is cute. Simple but good.

Developer

Thanks for checking it out! I tried to lean a little easier than, say, Camilla Vs on this one... but getting the good ending, plus all the optional evidence is an extra challenge for any players interested.

I'm looking forward to trying your game as soon as I have a little time!